Cyprus

Tours that take the strain out of enjoying Europe’s flora and fauna! Tours under this banner will be based in just a couple of good quality hotels, and will have direct flights. And most importantly field trips will be kept to a maximum of six or so hours, giving you plenty of time to relax before and after.

The beauty of the Akamas Peninsula and the Troodos Massif in Cyprus is well-known, the rugged peninsula emerging from the western massifs and jutting far out into the deep blue Mediterranean. Inland are tranquil mountain villages linked by maze-like country roads winding their way up and down the slopes and always through abundant and lovely blooms. There is forestry and there are goats, but the impact of these on much of Western Cyprus’s landscapes is low and so we can marvel at the richness of the forests up high and lower down the floriferous phrygana. The swathes of colourful spring blooms are something to behold – Crown Daisies, Poppies, Crown Anemones, Cyclamens and a lovely butter-yellow coloured form of the Turban Buttercup making for a dazzlingly colourful show. The Troodos separated from the mainland just over 5 million years ago when waters suddenly filled the previously dry Mediterranean basin. In that time new forms of many plants have developed and thus Cyprus has a rich endemic flora, notably amongst the orchids. Near Smygies we’ll see upwards of twenty species including Ophrys israelitica, Ophrys cinereophila, Ophrys levantina and Orchis sezikiana. The Pegeia Forest offers us the chance to admire lovely Ophrys elegans, Ophrys iricolor, Ophrys sicula and Anacamptis morio amidst its fascinating open pine and juniper woodlands and vernal pools. In the mountains we’ll visit Juniper and Cedar forests, these offering an architectural beauty that can hardly be matched by any other groups of trees, framing mountain vistas with massive layered branches or twisting twirling trunks. Here are the endemics Cyclamen cyprium and the lovely ‘Golden Oak’ Quercus alnifolia. We’ll not ignore the amazing antiquities of the region, visiting the Baths of Aphrodite, as well as The Tombs of the Kings and Paphos Archaeological Area which are both are on the World Heritage list. And we will no doubt take great pleasure in the local cuisines, not to mention the excellent local wines.